Defoe and Lafferty Both Doubts

STEVEN GERRARD has confirmed that young striker Dapo Mebude has been recalled from international duty for Saturday’s Premiership clash against St Johnstone at Ibrox Stadium.

With Jermain Defoe (hamstring) and Kyle Lafferty (calf) doubts ahead of the big game against Tommy Wright’s men – and top scorer Alfredo Morelos suspended along with goalkeeper Allan McGregor – the Gers boss could have limited options for the last third of the pitch if Defoe and Lafferty are not available for selection.

Mebude, who signed a new contract until 2021 in December, played for Scotland’s Under-19s against Spain on Thursday in Murcia and Billy Stark’s squad will also take on Azerbaijan on Sunday but without the 17-year-old Light Blues forward.

Giving his team news at this morning’s 9.30am pre-match press conference at Ibrox, Gerrard said: “Jermain is a doubt, Lafferty is a doubt, Goldson is fine and Grezda is still a little bit away.

“Jamie Murphy has started kicking balls but obviously he’ll be, at best, the last few games of the season, but we’re hoping he can get back involved.

“Graham Dorrans has had a setback, but we are not sure the extent of that just yet. The rest are all fine.

Jermain has had some tightness in his hamstring and Kyle has had some tightness in his calf, so they’ll do part of the session today and we’ll see and hope they’ll both come through.

“We’ve pulled young Dapo back from international duty, just in case.

“I think he’s got a huge future, huge potential. He’s probably not ready to be thrown into the deep end just yet but I think he would certainly be ready for a cameo.

“He’s come into training and not looked out of place on numerous occasions now. I think the players have taken to him, but there is no doubt about it, he’ll play for Rangers at some point.”

When asked if it is a concern should Rangers be without three key strikers this weekend, the gaffer said: “Of course it is, but we’ve got good attacking players and we may have to find a different way or a different plan, but we’ll see how the next few hours go and hopefully they pull through.

“They are both confident and I’ll trust the players and give them both every chance of being available. We’ll go from there.”